Sunday, December 27, 2009


INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-AUSTRALIA:
CALLOUT FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO MUTINY MAGAZINE:
Well, here's one to prove that Molly doesn't always keep her nose to the grindstone in her cold and inhospitable country. Here's an item from the antipodes, Australia to be exact. The anarchist magazine 'Mutiny Magazine' from Sydney Australia is once more issuing a call for articles and other contributions to their efforts. This one will be issue # 46. Congrats to the comrades for such a sustained effort. Here's the callout.
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Callout for contributions to Mutiny Zine May #46‏:
This one's going to be a little late so bear with us comrades :)
**Deadline is FRIDAY 8th January 2010** (deadline may be extended)Contact us if you can't make the deadline but can still commit to writing us something for an extension.
Send us:
* 350 words of news, actions, resistances, occupations, updates on political situations, etc.
* 1500 words worth of articles
* 350 words worth of reviews on recordings/screenings/gigs/films/books/'graphic novels'/etc
Please send your submissions to mutineers@graffiti.net
Links to the latest issue #45:
and several back issues can be found at http://www.jura.org.au/mutiny
(Email us for any that haven't been uploaded yet, and we'll see what we can do).
xoxo
Mutiny Zine Collective

Saturday, December 26, 2009


CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:
FIGHTING THE OLYMPICS FROM COAST TO COAST:
There's less than 2 months to go until the 2010 Winter Olympics open out in BC, but the protests against these corporate give-away games haven't abated. Here's a raft of info, in the tradition of Christmas, with the ghost of protest past, the ghost of protest present and the ghost of protest yet to come. All from the Olympic Resistance Network.
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Speaking Tour, Torch updates, Meetings:‏
* ORN General Meeting (open to all!) will now be every Sunday, beginning in January 2010, 6pm @ Spartacus Books, 684 E. Hastings
* 2010 Welcoming Committee: Wed Dec 30 7:00 pm at SFU Harbour Centre, 515 W. Hastings. Meeting to plan a broad-based mobilization on Feb 12, 2010, the day of the Olympic Opening Ceremonies.
ORN COMMUNIQUES:
1) Updated Speaking Tours in Jan (BC, Washington, California) OLYMPIC TORCH DISRUPTIONS!
2) Release: Torch being Disrupted Across Canada!
3) Torch blocked at Six Nations (Interviews and Reports)
4) Video of Banner Drop in Kingston during Torch ceremonies
5) Toronto Disrupts the Torch (Video, Photos, Report back)
6) Blockade forces Torch to divert from Oneida First Nation
7) Updated ORN Callout to Extinguish the Olympic Torch NATIONAL CALL TO ACTION AGAINST OLYMPIC SPONSORS
8) 2010 Olympic Sponsors: Blood on your hands EVENTS (including other cities):
9) Kitchener: Series of events against the Olympic Torch Relay
10) Disrupt the Olympic Torch in Stratford!
11) Protest against Torch Relay Calgary12) Anti Olympic Events in Portland
13) Disrupt the Torch in Guelph!
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* UPDATED SPEAKING TOUR INFORMATION *
No Olympics on Stolen Native Land Speaking TourBritish Columbia and US West Coast - Two tours during January 2010
Greetings, As you may be aware, in February 2010, Vancouver BC, unceded Coast Salish Territories, will be the host city for the 2010 Winter Olympics. The effects of the upcoming Winter Games are increasingly apparent expansion of sport tourism on Indigenous lands; increasing homelessness across the province and especially in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside; misdirected public spending and debt; vulnerable working conditions especially for migrant labour; unprecedented destruction of the environment; and unparalleled police and security spending.
Beginning in January 2010, we will travel down through so-called BC -unceded Indigenous lands - as well as the west coast of the US to conduct two separate speaking tours on resistance to the 2010 Olympics, to share our experiences, and to promote the Feb 10-15 anti-colonial & anti-capitalist convergence. The purpose of this letter is to find people/groups in these areas to assist in local organizing of speaking events for our tour. The events will feature a speaker from the movement. We would also bring materials such as leaflets and Tshirts to distribute and fundraise with, as well as videos we have produced for screenings. A template poster will be provided if you would like to use it.
Specifically, you will have to secure a venue for the event (community centre, university, union hall etc), provide billeting, and put $100-$200 (flexible) towards overall travel costs. No event is too small or meaningless for us!
1) BC TOUR INFO In BC, we aim to arrive in towns and communities just prior to the arrival of the Torch in these communities to help build local resistance to the Torch relay. For more information on the torch route, check out the interactive map found on www.vancouver2010.com .
* Specifically we are looking to host the following events as part of our speaking tour:
- Kelowna Jan 14
- Penticton Jan 15
- Nelson Jan 16
- Castlegar Jan 17
- Golden Jan 18
- Merritt, Kamloops, Salmon Arm or Vernon: Jan 19-20
- Nanaimo: Jan 22
- Comox Valley: Jan 23
- Powell River: Jan 24
* Day trips on any Saturday or Sunday in January:
- Squamish, Gibson, Lillooet, Abottsford, Mission, Chilliwack, Pemberton, Sechelt, others.
2) US WEST COAST TOUR INFO In the US, we hope to confirm events in LA, Bay Area, San Diego, Santa Cruz etc between Jan 19-25 (as close to Jan 19th as possible), starting in San Francisco.
*** SUPPORT THE SPEAKING TOURS ***
If you can help out with this, please respond ASAP or by December 28th at the latest so we can confirm final details. Thank you in advance and we look forward to your response! The tour email is ORN.tour@gmail.com .Please forward all correspondence regarding the tour to that email address.
About Olympic Resistance Network: http://olympicresistance.net
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OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY BEING DISRUPTED ACROSS CANADA!
Anti-Olympic Protesters bring their message of resistance across Canada;Olympic Torch shamed.
Monday, December 21 2009, Vancouver Unceded Coast Salish Territories-Protesters are bringing their anti-Olympic message with chants of “No Olympics on Stolen Native Land”, “Get your torch off our land, we don’t want your Olympic scam” and “2010 Homes not 2010 Games” across Canada. In many instances, activists have successfully disrupted the Torch Relay, forcing delays and route cancellations, with at least four arrests associated with anti-Torch related actions. Today, Six Nations community members have declared that the Olympic Torch will not pass through their territory. A Declaration by the Onkwehonwe (people) of the Grand River Territory states “This land is not conquered.We are not Canadian… We hereby affirm our peaceful opposition to the entry and progression of the 2010 Olympic torch into and through our territory.”(Visit: http://6nsolidarity.wordpress.com or No2010@peaceculture.org for media interviews).
In the coming weeks, dissenters are also expected to converge in Kitchener, Calgary, Edmonton, Stratford, and Guelph. In Toronto over 250 people took to the streets on December 17, blocking major intersections and forcing the cancellation of the Torch in parts of downtown Toronto. A banner dropped directly across the stage read “Gego Olympics Da-Te-Snoon Nishnaabe-Giing Ga-Gmooding” (“No Olympics on Stolen Native Land” in Anishinaabemowin). (Visit http://torontotorch.blogspot.com or email torchblock@gmail.com )
At least four communities in the province of Quebec have opposed the Torch Relay: Sept-Iles, Montreal, Kanahwake First Nations, and Quebec City. In Montreal, over 200 people converged and delayed the relay as well as the main ceremonies and concert. (Visit: http://www.amp-montreal.net).
On October 30, over 400 people gathered to oppose the Torch Relay launch in Victoria. An Anti-Olympics Festival and Zombie March succeeded in disrupting the relay. Security personnel were forced to extinguish the torch, load it in a van, and reroute it. (Visit http://no2010victoria.net or no2010victoria@gmail.com ). Actions have also occurred in cities as diverse as Comox Valley, Kingston, Halifax, Ottawa, and St. John's. With the number of protesters equaling or exceeding spectators, dissatisfaction with the 2010 Winter Olympics is growing across Canada.
According to a November 2009 Angus-Reid poll, over 30% of B.C. residents feel the Olympics will have a negative impact and almost 40% of residents support the protesters. Protesters note that the Olympics are not simply about the athletes; rather the corporate Games are leaving a legacy of displacement, militarization, and repression. Public funds invested by all levels of government are nearing $7 billion. According to the Olympic Resistance Network, “While Olympic corporate sponsors are getting bailed out, Indigenous lands are being stolen, people are becoming homeless, thousands are losing their jobs and access to public services, the environment is being destroyed, and civil liberties are being eroded with almost a billion dollars sunk into surveillance. The negative Olympic legacy is turning into an anti-Olympic legacy of resistance across the country.”
Social justice activists also believe that the Olympic Torch is a $25 million propaganda tool for corporate sponsors who have some of the worst social and environmental practices. The Royal Bank of Canada has been under fire for its financing of the environmentally devastating Alberta Tar Sands, while Coca Cola has been responsible for massive depletion of groundwater and toxic waste pollution in India.
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TORCH BLOCKED FROM HEART OF GRAND RIVER TERRITORY, SIX NATIONS
* Independent media:
Activists Divert the Olympic Torch from the Heart of the Grand RiverTerritory, Six Nations (with photos):
* Videos: Interview w Six Nations spokespersons
Lyndsey Bomberry:
Interview with youth activist Melissa Elliott
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/windsor/story/2009/12/22/chatham-torch-relay-091222.html Declaration of the Onkwehonwe of Grand River Territory on the 2010 olympic torch relay
Sunday, December 13th, 2009 Being Onkwehonwe (people) of the Grand River Territory, we strive to uphold our responsibilities as stewards of the land; and to the coming faces. In accordance with our responsibilities we declare: This land is not conquered. We are not canadian. Our ancestors have fought for 500 years to ensure this. Therefore asserting our sovereignty we declare that Canada and their Six Nations band council has no authority over our territory. This authority rests with the Onkwehonwe (people).
On August 20th at a Six Nations Parks & Recreation department led community meeting, Onkwehon we present reached consensus that the torch was not welcome through our territory. Canada has ignored the voice of the Onkwehonwe, but this decision has not been forgotten. As supporters of the people and with respect to all our relations we hereby affirm our peaceful opposition to the entry and progression of the 2010 olympic torch into and through our territory. In accordance with the Two-Row Wampum treaty we further invite any progression of the torch to proceed around the boundaries of the heart of our Grand River territory.
The 2010 olympics and torch relay do not reflect the principles of the Great Law of Peace; a law that prioritizes life and land. We honor Etinoha (Mother Earth) because she gives us life and we are bound to sustaining that life cycle. Due to the corporate and state led destruction of indigenous lands and life, we acknowledge the impacts the 2010 olympics are having on the Onkwehonwe (people). We honor the call for solidaritywith those Onkwehonwe (peoples) of the territories affected by the olympics and the destructive legacy of manifest destiny.
This is not an attack on athleticism or sports; we feel that our legacy of athleticism is not being honored, a legacy which has been rooted in our traditions and spirituality for time immemorial. Onkwehonwe participation in the olympic torch relay affirms Canada’s attempt to hide the negative image they have in the international arena for their treatment of the Onkwehonwe (peoples). This has been proven in Canada’s refusal to sign the UN declaration of the rights of indigenous peoples, refusal to uphold our treaties including the two row wampum, ongoing land claims, the effects of the residential school legacy and the continuing issues of violence against our women and children.
Through our opposition to the torch relay, we seek to enlighten and educate others of the corruption created by this façade of peace and unity with Onkwehonwe (peoples) that the olympics exhibit. We recognize that the benefit of any participation in these olympics is temporary, however the impacts will be long lasting and destructive. In the spirit of peace and in honor of our Coming Faces, Hoskanigetah (Men’s Fire), Ahgongweh (Women’s Fire), Grand River Onkwehonwe youth & other concerned people
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Video of Kingston Banner Drop Video of banner drop during torch ceremony in Kingston: at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38ZYx7IQRoA
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TORONTO DISRUPTS THE TORCH!
VIDEO:
PHOTOS:
//everyoneisdoomed.org/?p=458
MAINSTREAM MEDIA:
* REPORTBACK
Over 250 people took to the streets Thursday night to welcome the Olympic Torch with a resounding: “No Olympics on Stolen Native Land” Enthusiastic folks met up at 5:15 at College & University, gathering around a 15 foot homemade torch of our own, banners reading “Resist 2010 for the land”, “No 2010 Torch” and sharing in some homemade food.
Organizers from Six Nations read the Declaration of the Onkwehonwe of Grand River Territory on the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay, Doreen Silversmith also from Six Nations spoke about how the attacks on women are attacks on the land and Mark C. from ARA spoke of Indigenous Youth rising up and taking power. Messages of Solidarity were delivered by No One Is Illegal-Toronto, No Games Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo’s own Torch Welcoming Committee. Grounding the crowd in the reasons we were here: to decry Canada’s colonial violence and expose the lies of Olympics Circus, chants began that would ring through Toronto all night.
While the cold seeped, our MC got the crowd jumping and amped to go meet the torch. Anticipating the torch taking a lil’ streetcar ride, people took to College Street. The first line of bike cops at College and Elizabeth set up as we began a fluid game of cat and mouse. Our people took some surprise routes towards Yonge and Gerrard where we regrouped and faced a row of riots cops, holding the intersection. We gathered at the line of cops and turned back suddenly, going North, walking up Yonge St. to meet the Torch.
At Yonge and College we ran into the crowds there to cheer on the Torch some of whom started booing and hissing. We handed out thousands of pieces of ORN and No2010 literature and some people even joined our action. One onlooker pushed over our speaker. The horses arrived and tried to split us in two but that failed. Then a small group stayed back at Yonge and College, while the rest of the street party walked North, slowing to regroup and coming closer to the Torch. At Yonge and Maitland, we decided to stop and hold it, as people from the back rushed to join us. With messages streaming in that the media were reporting we had blocked the Torch and having chased the torch around the city for nearly two hours (it was now 7:30), we euphorically declared victory!
We had forced VANOC to split the Torch in to two, and brought our message right to the centre of the Olympic Circus. While all of this was going on, the March in Honour of Harriet Nahanee, led by indigenous women, had split off to follow the torch into Nathan Phillips Square, where a climber free climbed an arch directly opposite the stage and hung a banner reading “Gego Olympics Da-Te-SnoonNishnaabe-Giing Ga-Gmooding” (No Olympics on Stolen Native Land in Anishinaabemowin).
Our people had infiltrated the crowd, holding up banners and handing out flyers, and booing the flame as it left Nathan Phillips Square around 9:30pm. The banner stayed up till the end of the festivities and the climber only got a $100 ticket. Two arrests were made when two protesters ran alongside the Torch following the disruption at Yonge and Maitland. They were released later that night. We stole the Torch’s thunder, with CTV, NDNTV, APTN, City, the Globe, the Star, the Sun, Now Magazine and some Ryerson folks reporting on the disruption and relaying the message that we took to the streets demanding justice for indigenous peoples, an end to corporate domination and the truth about “Canada’s” ongoing policies and practices of colonialism.
Though there has been a serious damper being put on the size and effect of our actions, everyone on the streets of Toronto heard us last night. This protest was organized by an autonomous group of people coming together for this occasion, and showcased a broad spectrum of Toronto’s resistance. As we head into 2010, we urged folks to support Six Nations as they stand up and block the Torch from entering their territory on December 21st, to head to Kitchener-Waterloo on December 27th, to converge on Vancouver from February 10-15th, and to start thinking about your plans for the G8/G20 meetings in June. Overheard during the street party: “Man,the G20’s coming here, and we can’t even handle this!”, cop. ‘See you in the streets.
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Blockade forces Torch to divert from Oneida First Nation
LONDON, Ont. — For the second day in a row the Olympic torch relay was forced to take a detour around a native reserve due to safety concerns. A road blockade was set up by protesters leading up to the Oneida of the Thames reserve, an Oneida First Nation near London, Ont., where the flame was to make its 10th community appearance of the day. “We will not visit Oneida as a faction of the community has pledged to disrupt the relay and prohibit us from entering the community,” the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games said in a news release. From corporate news story:
UPDATED CALL FOR CROSS-CANADA MOBILIZING:
EXTINGUISH THE OLYMPIC TORCH!
From October 31 2009 - February 12 2010, the Olympic Torch Relay "A Path of Northern Lights" will be traveling across Canada. The Olympic Resistance Network, based in Vancouver Unceded Coast Salish Territories, is calling on and encouraging our allies to coordinate efforts in over 2000 communities to oppose and resist the Torch Relay.
WHY ORGANIZE AGAINST THE TORCH?
The Olympic torch is a propaganda tool that promotes gentrification,repression and environmental destruction. The origins of the Torch Relay lie in the dark history of the 1936 Games in Berlin, where it was devised as a means to spread Nazi fascism and to promote the Third Reich. (SeeGlobe and Mail article here: http://no2010.com/node/1113)
The 2010 Olympic Torch Relay is a $25 million publicity stunt to promote the Olympic Brand, particularly its top sponsors. The Royal Bank of Canada and Coca Cola are the main sponsors of the 2010 Torch relay. RBC is the top financier of the environmentally devastating Alberta Tar Sands, while Coca Cola has been responsible for health degradation as part of the junkfood industry, massive depletion of groundwater and toxic waste pollution in India, and involved in hiring paramilitary groups to violently repress union organizers in Colombia.
It is becoming increasingly evident that far from being simply about sport, the 2010 Olympics is rooted in displacement, corporate greed, militarization, and repression. While Olympic corporate sponsors are getting bailed out, Indigenous lands are being stolen, more people are becoming homeless, thousands are losing their jobs and access to public services, the environment is being destroyed, and civil liberties arebeing eroded as over a billion dollars are being sunk into security and surveillance measures.
While people suffer consequences, the public money invested by the city of Vancouver, the city of Whistler, the B.C.government and the Canadian government is now nearing $7 billion. WHAT CAN I DO?
This Torch Relay will be the longest in-country relay in Olympic history, giving us the chance to make some anti-Olympic history! You might be opposing the Torch due to the rally call No Olympics on Stolen Native Land! Remember the Torch does not represent a sacred fire, it is a destructive force. Or you might be protesting the Torch because of the impacts of its corporate sponsors on your community, such as the link between the RBC and Alberta Tar Sands. Or you are generally concerned about the overall negative impacts of the Games such as homelessness, misdirected public spending, attacks on civil liberties, and the general oppression and repression it represents.
There are many reasons and many ways to oppose the Torch, so whatever your reason might be, get out there and be visible! Create a leaflet and make some placards, and you and your group can protest along the Torch route and hand out information to those along the sidelines. You can lead a march to disrupt and detour the relay, as Victoria organizers successfully did without arrests. Setup a blockade through your community and stop the torch from going through and spreading its false propaganda. Hold educational events prior to and after the Torch going through to spread awareness about the impacts of the Olympics (you can contact olympicresistance@riseup.net for educational materials to assist in this). Do whatever makes the most sense for your context; most important is that you organize something!
==> If you are organizing an event or action in your city, town, or community please email us the details at olympicresistance@riseup.net so we can compile the information and build strength and unity in our efforts by having this information available on our website.
Basic torch route
Dec 12, 2009 - Jan 4, 2010: through Ontario: Ottawa, Pikwàkanagàn, Akwesasne, Kingston, Tyendinaga, Peterborough, Toronto, Hamilton, St.Catharines, Six Nations, Brantford, Oneida, Leamington, Windsor, Sarnia,London, Stratford, Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph, Barrie, Huntsville,Temiskaming, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Red Rock FN, Kenora, and others.
Jan 5 - Jan 20, 2010: through Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta: Winnipeg, Sioux Valley Dakota, Regina, Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Moosomin FN, Edmonton, Wetaskiwin, Red Deer,Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Calgary, Canada Olympic Park, Stoney Nation, and more.
Jan 21 - Feb 11, 2010: through BC: Golden, Cranbrook, Nelson, Trail,Osoyoos FN, Penticton, Kelowna, Vernon, Revelstoke, Salmon Arm, Kamloops,100 Mile House, Williams Lake, Prince George, Smithers, Gitanmaax, FortSt. John, Terrace, Bella Bella, Powell River, Sechelt, Squamish, Whistler, Lil'wat, Merritt, Fraser Valley, Lower Mainland and others.
* Full route information: Complete listing by day:
Provincial and Territorial Routes:
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*The 2010 Corporate Campaign*
In the lead up to the 2010 Winter Games, host communities have been organizing to expose the impact of the Games on indigenous communities, low-income and homeless populations, public services, and the environment. While we continue to expose the impact of the Games themselves, anti-Olympic organizers in Vancouver want to make sure that the spotlight is directed at the social and environmental crimes of the corporate sponsors as well. http://2010campaign.wordpress.com/
We have just completed several posters highlighting the crimes of various2010 Olympic Sponsors. Please see our website for posters that you can put up in your city! Look out General Electric, CTV, Dow and Coke- were on to you. We have also completed the flyers against Hudson's Bay Company and Royal Bank of Canada. We encourage you to print off the flyer, fold them in half and sneak copies into clothes at the Bay. We encourage you to keep distributing flyers outside the Royal Bank in the lead up to the Games. You can download all the materials at:http://2010campaign.wordpress.com/
Please join us as we continue to mobilize against Olympic sponsors in an effort to build awareness and mobilize people in the lead up to the Games. Keep in touch and let us know where you take action: 2010corporatecampaign@gmail.com
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"No Olympics on Stolen Native Land"
A public mobilization against the Olympic Torch Relay
*** AW@L and friends from across the region are sending an open invitation for a participatory public event to coincide with the arrival of the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay in Kitchener on Sunday, December 27.
* WHAT: A family friendly rally, march and demonstration against the 2010 Vancouver-Whistler Olympics. We intend to create a festive atmosphere that is safe and inviting for activists as well as families. Our goal is to educate and to deliver a message. We will start with interactive events, free hot coffee and food at a rally at the entrance to Victoria Park in downtown Kitchener featuring speakers from the Olympic Resistance Network-Ontario (ORNO) as well as prominent Six Nations youth activists. Then we will all march to City Hall for a public demonstration during the Olympic Torch Celebration.
*WHEN: Sunday December 27, 4-8pm.
*WHERE: Rally at the Victoria Park Clock Tower, downtown Kitchener, off Gaukel Street.
*WHY: In response to callouts from the Olympic Resistance Network (ORN) and the Native Youth Movement (NYM), AW@L—a community-based direct action group, along with some of our allies are teaming up to co-host a peaceful rally during the Olympic Torch Celebration. We invite all of our friends and allies from across the region to converge in Kitchener in order to send the message to VANOC and to Canada that they can neither whitewash the ongoing colonization of First Nations, nor can they greenwash this country’s abysmal environmental record. We will use their Olympic circus as an opportunity to shine the international spotlight where it belongs, on the truth.
We are calling for this gathering because VANOC, Canada and the Olympics’ sponsors are trying to use the Olympics and the world media spotlight they bring to cast Canada’s international image in a certain light; as a “post-apology” country where the State’s relationship with First Nations is positive and progressive. But this official presentation is a tragic farce. The truth is that this country’s relationship with Indigenous Peoples is shameful. Canada is one of only three countries that has not signed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.The Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission collapsed. Our land claims process is so backed up that at the current rate active claims will not be solved for more than another two centuries. Canada and the provinces have repeatedly and endemically violated treaty after treaty.The Vancouver-Whistler 2010 Winter Olympic Games are taking place on unceded Territories of the Coast Salish people. Kitchener is on the Haldimand Tract, which is part of the Grand River Territory, which is Six Nations Land. Kitchener-Waterloo, like Vancouver-Whistler, is stolen land. VANOC, Canada and Olympics’ sponsors are trying to use the Olympics to cast themselves as “green” global citizens, when in fact that is a sham.
Canada as well as the Royal Bank of Canada (one of the Olympics’ and the Torch Relay’s primary sponsors) have been identified by major Environmental NGO’s as among the world’s worst climate change offenders. Canada has made the least progress of all developed countries on our Kyoto Protocol commitments, and Canada has been one of the most disruptive and uncooperative countries when it comes to international climate change talks. Canada’s Tar Sands collectively comprise one of the most environmentally destructive projects on earth, and RBC is the leading financier of Tar Sands projects, which like many environmentally destructive projects has a disproportionate impact on Indigenous communities. In the Vancouver-Whistler corridor, the environmental impact of the 2010 Games is incalculable.
VANOC, the City of Vancouver, Torch Relay host cities and Olympic sponsors are trying to use the Olympics to make themselves appear socially responsible to their constituent communities. This is yet another lie. In Vancouver, in preparation for the 2010 Games, neighbourhoods have been brutally gentrified, drastically increasing homelessness and the marginalization of the urban poor. And to make matters worse, new bylaws have been passed in Vancouver that essentially criminalize homelessness and poverty. In Torch Relay host cities, as on the West Coast, public funds are being diverted to pay for a corporate party; while in Kitchener the City’s New Years eve budget is being redirected to pay for VANOC’s Torch Celebration at City Hall, in Vancouver over six billion dollars of taxpayer money is being used to pay for the 2010 Corporate Circus. The 2010 Olympics are ushering in a new era of militarization and police repression. Activists across the country have been routinely harassed by CSIS and the RCMP in the lead up to the Olympic Games. During the games, new high-tech weaponry has been purchased for use against protesters and American military personnel are being brought in to help police the crowds. The security budget for the games is going to total over 1 billion dollars — during a financial crisis, no less.
So, as long as you are willing to abide by reasonable standards of “family friendly” behaviour, we urge everyone to attend this educational and festive public rally, march and demonstration against the 2010 Olympics. Bring warm clothes and things like banners, placards, costumes, noisemakers, and oh yeah... lots of energy. This event is less than a month away, so there is much to do. If you would like to help out in any way, please contact No2010@peaceculture.org .That’s the same email to query if you want more info. We will have point people in Six Nations, Hamilton, Brantford, Guelph, Stratford, Toronto and London to coordinate carpooling, so if you need a ride, or have room for people in one, please let us know. See you in the streets!
AW@L Olympic Resistance Committee
AW@L’s website is http://peaceculture.org
Contact for more info: No2010@peaceculture.org
For more info on the Olympics visit
OlympicResistance.net <http://www.olympicresistance.net/>
No2010Victoria.net <http://www.no2010victoria.com/>
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Disrupt the Olympic Torch in Stratford!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
8:00am - 3:00pm
front steps of Stratford city hall It takes a spark to start a praire fire
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Protest against Torch Relay!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Olympic Plaza, Calgary, AB
The organizing is starting now. If you want to get involved in Calgary please contact me: terisong@riseup.net . If you are organizing a seperate event and want it listed via the email group you can contact myself or anyother organizer and I am sure they'd be willing to help.
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Anti Olympic Events in Portland
Jan 3, 2010
2010 Olympic Resistance"Stolen lives, Stolen land"January 3rd @ Portland State University (13)(13)(13)(13)(13)(13)(13)(13)(13)(13)(13)(13)(13)
Disrupt the Torch in Guelph!
Monday, December 28, 2009
7:00am - 10:30am
St. George's Square, Guelph
Bring banners, signs and anything else you can think of!

AMERICAN POLITICS:
DOMESTIC 'RENDITION' OF IMMIGRANTS IN THE USA:
The following disturbing story about how immigration enforcement (ICE) in the USA often involves what are actually illegal acts comes from The Media Consortium. It came Molly's way via the Care2 website.
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Extraordinary [Domestic] Rendition: ICE Perpetuating Human Rights Abuses:
By Nezua, Media Consortium
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an arm of the Department of Homeland Security, apparently isn’t beholden to US or international law. In The Nation, Jacqueline Stevens reveals the “clandestine operations, akin to extraordinary renditions” carried out by ICE.

Beyond the department’s public list of detention facilities—many of which are already sites of alleged abuse—ICE is also “confining people in 186 unlisted and unmarked subfield offices” around the nation. According to Alison Parker, deputy director of Human Rights Watch, these secret detention centers may violate the UN’s Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the United States is a signatory.

But what’s most appalling is ICE’s assertion that the department is some sort of super-police with powers of rendition. James Pendergraph, former executive director of ICE’s Office of State and Local Coordination, said in late 2008 that “if you don’t have enough evidence to charge someone criminally, but you think he’s illegal, we can make him disappear.” The boldness with which a law official would state such an idea is confounding; the confession, if true, is criminal.

Last week, The Diaspora wrote about the introduction of the CIR ASAP immigration bill by Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL). Freshman Congressman Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) is a recent addition to the list of 87 cosponsors on the bill, as The Colorado Independent reported last Wednesday.
This is a positive step forward. The bill will most likely be sponsored in the senate by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY). CIR ASAP establishes a basic layout of progressive immigration reform, but the final bill will probably become more focused on enforcement in Schumer’s hands.

Finally, David Moberg reports on the Obama administration’s controversial use of “audits” to purge employment payrolls of undocumented workers for In These Times. While the audit method is much quieter and less likely to make headlines, it is also ineffective. Not only do audits rely upon “flawed federal databases” to judge who is documented, they also purge immigrants who are “legal.”

As the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Executive Vice-President Eliseo Medina explains, workers fired as a result of ICE probes or audits do find other, lower-paying jobs that offer even less protection to the worker. Ultimately the number of undocumented workers in the US remains the same, and the entire exercise but “a losing game of musical chairs.” Medina stresses that SEIU is not suggesting the law shouldn’t be enforced, simply that it be enforced in a way that works.

This post features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about immigration by membersof The Media Consortium. It is free to reprint. This is a project of The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets.

Friday, December 25, 2009


CANADIAN LABOUR-MANITOBA:
TEMBEC LOCKOUT CONTINUES AS WORKERS REJECT OFFER:
The lockout of workers at the Tembec plant in Pine Falls Manitoba seems set to continue into the New Year as workers there have rejected an offer on the part of the company to change their status from "locked out" to "laid off" in return for concessions that would essentially give up all other rights that they are entitled to. Here is how the matter was reported by the Winnipeg Free Press.
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Union rejects layoff offer at Tembec's newsprint mill in Manitoba:
By: THE CANADIAN PRESS
PINE FALLS, Man. - Hundreds of locked-out workers at a Tembec forestry mill in Pine Falls, Man., rejected Wednesday a company proposal to change the terms of their severance and employment security.

During a meeting Tuesday with two conciliators from the Manitoba Department of Labour, Tembec had proposed changing the lockout to a layoff, an idea the union supported because it would allow its members to collect Employment Insurance.

However, the union said Tembec's offer was conditional on workers agreeing to defer severance pay and give up their employment security rights unless the operations were running at 100 per cent capacity.

"It is clear Tembec has no interest in ending this dispute because it tabled proposals it surely must have known would be rejected outright by their employees, our members," said United Steelworkers union area supervisor Wayne Skrypnyk.

In all, 280 workers have been on the picket line since September in a dispute over wage cuts, and their union has now applied for provincial arbitration.

The union said the company had been seeking wage and contract concessions that exceed 35 per cent.

Tembec announced earlier this month that it was putting the plant up for sale and was prepared to end the lockout, subject to an agreement on some local issues.

Before it locked out the workers, Tembec said it needed immediate and significant cuts in labour costs at the mill to keep it competitive.

Demand for newsprint has dropped across North America because of the recession and changes in newspapers affected by the migration of news and advertising to the Internet.

Tembec is one of Canada's largest forestry companies, with operations in Quebec and other parts of the country, and in France.
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Meanwhile the United Steel Workers have issued a press release which goes into more detail as to why the workers rejected the offer. It also mentions that the rejection was unanimous. To my knowledge no mass media outlet has picked up on this press release. Here it is from the Canadian Newswire.
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Tembec Denies Pine Falls Workers Severance, EI and Workplace Rights:
WINNIPEG, Dec. 23 /CNW/ - Locked-out members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 3 - 1375, at the Tembec Manitoba Newsprint operations in Powerview-Pine Falls, unanimously rejected a company proposal Tuesday to change the lockout to a layoff if workers agreed to defer severance pay and give up their employment security rights unless the operations were running at 100 per cent capacity.

USW negotiators and Tembec met Tuesday with two conciliators from the Manitoba Department of Labour to possibly end the lockout that began September 1, 2009. Two hundred and sixty USW members and 20 members of the Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union are on the picket line in rejection of wage and contract concessions that exceed 35 per cent.

"It is clear Tembec has no interest in ending this dispute because it tabled proposals it surely must have known would be rejected outright by their employees, our members," said USW area supervisor Wayne Skrypnyk.

The USW has applied to the provincial labour board for Interest Arbitration.

Despite imposing the lockout, earlier this month Tembec admitted to the Manitoba government and the unions that it intends to either sell the newsprint mill or close it down.

"If Tembec agreed to change its lockout to a layoff, our members would be able to collect Employment Insurance," said Skrypnyk. "This would have helped the workers and the community weather the economic storm that has hit the industry."

He added: "Tembec's denial of a workable agreement that would provide workers and their families access to Employment Insurance is heartless, especially at Christmas time."
The USW represents 250,000 workers in all sectors of the Canadian economy.
For further information: Wayne Skrypnyk, USW Area Coordinator, (204) 232-7335

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:
ANTI-FASCIST INITIATIVE IN RUSSIA:
The heartland of the ex-Soviet Union is one of the countries of the world where classical fascism (as opposed to what the "left" usually labels as "fascism") is gaining ground. Given the social crisis of a defeated empire that still has delusions of glory this is not unexpected. At the same time opposition is rising against this fascist threat, and anarchists are at the forefront of this opposition. Here, from the A-Infos website is an appeal for solidarity with a Russian anti-fascist initiative that will happen soon in the New Year.
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Russia, Manifesto of the January 19 Committee, Moscow:
On January 19, 2010, a year to the day from the murders of Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova, we, the organizers of an antifascist march, call on you to join our campaign against neo-Nazi terrorism.

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The word fascism has been utterly devalued today. It is hard to find a political movement that avoids branding its opponents as “fascists.” But there are also meaningful interpretations of this term. Many of them have a direct bearing on what is taking place in contemporary Russia.

----

For some people, fascism is the extreme intolerance intrinsic to authoritarian societies. For others, it is an ideology of exploitation and coercion. For still others, it means the use by the authorities of covert paramilitary units for the suppression of democratic movements.





Finally, for some, fascism is a force that murders good people, people like the lawyer Stanislav Markelov and the journalist Nastya Baburova,the young antifascists Fyodor Filatov and Ivan Khutorskoi, the ethnologist Nikolai Girenko, the chess player Sergei Nikolaev from Yakutia, the programmer Bair Sambuev from Buryatia, and hundreds of others. People who define fascism in this way do not divide their enemies into Russians and non-Russians, grown-ups and children, priests and punk rock fans, young activists and defenseless janitors from Central Asia.





It is not a matter of definitions, however. All the murderers come from one and the same environment.






They can be defeated only through a combined effort, only by overcoming the barriers that separate political activists from each other and from people who do not trust politicians and are not involved in the political process. For this purpose we are organizing an antifascist initiative that will unite people of various political persuasions with all those who consider themselves apolitical but who are convinced that the rise of fascism in Russia demands a clear response from society.





The neo-Nazis have changed. They now not only attack marketplaces, they also blow them up – along with railroad tracks, concert halls, churches, cafes, and the entryways of the buildings where their political opponents live. The fascists now not only beat up people on the streets, they also murder them. Neo-Nazi terrorism has become a reality.





If this goes on much longer, Russia will turn into a country wracked by ethnic cleansing and inter-ethnic war. We appeal to everyone who would rather not wait to see this happen. Act now: take a public stance using whatever means you have at your disposal.





We also call on well-known and respected people – scholars, artists, writers, and intellectuals – to support our cause with their good names. We believe that the struggle against the neo-Nazi scourge in Russia must be raised to a new level. It has to become a mass campaign of solidarity that reaches beyond youth subcultures and activist groups. The understandable aversion people feel to politics should not prevent them from recognizing the threat posed by neo-Nazism.





We believe that we have three main tasks today. First, we need to deprive neo-Nazis and racists of the explicit and implicit support they receive from bureaucrats and establishment politicians. Second, we have to drive members of ultra-rightist organizations out of mainstream politics. Third, we must put an end to the practice of using radical right-wing gangs to intimidate and murder social and political activists.






We call on people in various cities and countries to take to the streets on January 19, 2010, and show their solidarity with our cause




HAPPY HOLIDAYS
FROM MOLLYMEW:
THE OLD YEAR WINDS DOWN TO ITS CLOSE. THE NEW YEAR LOOMS IN FRONT, FULL OF PROMISE AND OF CHALLENGE. MAY THE NEW YEAR BRING ALL THE BEST TO ALL MY READERS. MAY THE WORLD CHANGE AT LEAST A LITTLE BIT FOR THE BETTER.
WISHING YOU WELL IN 2010- MOLLYMEW

Wednesday, December 23, 2009


CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-TORONTO:
UPPING THE ANTI NUMBER 9 NOW AVAILABLE:
Issue number 9 of the excellent libertarian socialist journal 'Upping The Anti' is now out. Quite a good magazine. Molly is herself a subscriber, and, of course, you can't get any higher recommendation than that. Here's the details.
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UTA issue #9 now available + holiday subscription deal!:‏
Please forward widely
Dear Friends and Comrades,
We are pleased to announce that the ninth issue of Upping the Anti, a journal of theory and action, is can now be ordered online or purchased at these fine booksellers.
UTA 9 includes:
Interviews with Eli Clare and Sherene Razack
◘Ben Saifer on Campus Israel advocacy and the politics of "dialogue"
◘Kate Milley on anti-Native organizing and the "Caledonia Crisis"
◘Chris Hurl and Kevin Walby on the rise and fall of the Canadian Union of Students
◘Roundtables on the ten year of anniversary of the "Battle of Seattle" and anti-Olympics organizing in British Columbia

Upping the Anti is a radical journal published twice a year by a pan-Canadian collective of activists and organizers. We are dedicated to publishing radical theory and analysis about struggles against capitalism, imperialism and all forms of oppression.

Since our debut in 2005, we’ve published articles by and interviews with renowned activists and intellectuals, including Aijaz Ahmad, Himani Bannerji, Grace Lee Boggs, Ward Churchill, Michael Hardt, John Holloway, Sunera Thobani, Deborah Gould, and Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz.We have covered a wide range of topics including Palestine solidarity activism, the strengths and weaknesses of the contemporary anti-war movement, trans politics and anti-capitalism, Indigenous solidarity, contemporary feminist organizing, activist burnout, the dynamics of the animal liberation movement, and the contradictions and challenges facing student organizing.
This holiday season, give the gift of revolutionary thought to your friends, family, coworkers or comrades. For a limited time, you can get Issues 8, 9 and 10 of Upping the Anti delivered right to your door, or to the door of your choosing for just $25 CAD or $35 USD. Canada - Holiday Promo
Issues 8, 9 and 10 of Upping the Anti delivered right to your door $25.00 - Login or Register to add this to your cart.USA - Holiday Promo Issues 8, 9 and 10 of Upping the Anti delivered right to your door $35.00 - Login or Register to add this to your cart.Order by December 30th and receive 3 issues of Upping the Anti for $25
!Happy holidays
The Upping the Anti Editorial Committee
-- UPPING THE ANTI :
A Journal of Theory and Action
If the articles in Upping The Anti inspire or enrage you, if they have been useful (or not) in your organizing work, or if you have something to contribute to an argument on our pages, please consider writing us a letter. We print letters up to 1,000 words and reserve to the right to edit for clarity, spelling, and grammar. Email letters to uppingtheanti@gmail.com.


CANADIAN LABOUR-TORONTO:

REINSTATE GAETAN HEROUX:

The following appeal for solidarity comes from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP). The case of the dismissal of Gaetan Heroux has been mentioned before here at Molly's Blog.
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Reinstate Gaetan Heroux: March to Scarborough from Street Health:‏
Reinstate Gaetan Heroux: March to Scarborough from Street Health Homeless Contingent to walk from downtown east to Neighbourhood Link
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** Sign Petition to Reinstate Gaetan (see below) **
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ACTION: March from Street Health to Neighbourhood Link
DATE: Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
TIME: 9 am
LOCATION: Meet at 338 Dundas Street East (Street Health)Walk approximately two hours to 3036 Danforth Avenue (Neighbourhood Link)
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On December 8th, 2009, much-loved and respected community advocate and activist Gaetan Heroux was fired from his job as a PAID ID worker, by his employer, Neighbourhood Link. Gaetan's dismissal came after he refused to comply with sudden relocation of his office from Street Health, in the downtown east end, to a new location at Victoria Park and Danforth.
The move would have meant Gaetan's work providing identification to poor and homeless people in the downtown east would have been severely compromised, as clients of the PAID Project necessarily require access to workers and their ID at unpredictable times and often on an urgent basis, given the instability of homelessness.
The attempt to move Gaetan came after he spoke up in defence of his colleagues at Street Health, who have been trying to negotiate a fair contract with management for 1.5 years, and have been subject to harassment, threats, and intimidation as a result. The relocation efforts mean that his employer, Neighbourhood Link, in apparent cooperation with Street Health management, is effectively going to deny people access to a service that is essential to their lives. Gaetan would not stand for this and refused to move. He was subsequently fired.
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WHAT YOU CAN DO:
COME OUT AND JOIN THE WALK:
Join a community delegation of homeless people and friends, as we walk to Neighbourhood Link from Street Health in the depth of winter. This long journey is the one which will be required of homeless PAID Project clients if management persists with the plan to move services to the Scarborough offices.
When we arrive at Neighbourhood Link, the delegation will requesting a meeting with Executive Director Mary McGowan (a request already sent in writing), to demand the following: 1) respond to the articulated needs of homeless clients and return ID services to the downtown core on a full time basis;
2) reverse the decision to terminate Gaetan Heroux and relocate him back to his office at Street Health.
SIGN THE PETITION:
We will be presenting signatures already collected in support of Gaetan and the return of PAID ID work to the Street Health location. Add your name to this new electronic petition and join all of us in calling for an end to the loss of the heart of Street Health: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/12/petition-in-support-of-gaetan-heroux
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Sponsored by Friends of Street Health and the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
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&&&&&&&&&&&&
THE PETITION:
Please go to the linl above to sign the following petition addressed to Neighbourhood Link management.
&&&&&&&&&&&&
PETITION IN SUPPORT OF GAETAN HEROUX
Target:
Neighbourhood Link 3036 Danforth Avenue, Toronto, ON
Sponsored by:
Friends of Street Health
PETITION IN SUPPORT OF GAETAN HEROUX'S REINSTATEMENT AS AN ID WORKER IN THE DOWNTOWN EAST END
By firing Gaetan, his employer, Neighbourhood Link, in apparent cooperation with Street Health management, is effectively denying people access to a service that is essential to their lives. What will happen to people who need to access their ID outside of clinic hours? What will happen to people who cannot afford or are literally unable to travel to Scarborough to get their ID? What will happen to people who urgently need their ID to access social assistance or PNA, who need to be within walking distance of the PAID Project in order to meet their basic needs? Will people be provided with the transit fares they cannot afford, in order to travel to Scarborough? How will they access the additional essential support and services they were able to access when they would come to Gaetan in the downtown East end? Please sign the petition to re-instate Gaetan in the downtown East end!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009


CANADIAN LABOUR-MISSISSAUGA:
MISSISSAUGA WORKERS OCCUPY FACTORY:
Here, from the Star is the story of how some workers at a Mississaga air conditioning plant peacefully occupied their workplace the other day. Certainly there should be more of these actions to put pressure on management in these hard times.
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Angry workers occupy plant:
Workers in Mississauga feel `blindsided' after hasty shuttering of M&I
Tony Van Alphen Business Reporter
Angry employees at an idle air conditioning manufacturer in Mississauga occupied the company's plant for more than three hours Monday after they charged management "blindsided" them with an abrupt shutdown and no paycheques for extra work.





More than 100 workers mingled peacefully and retrieved belongings including tools at the M&I Air Systems plant in a pressure tactic to get some answers about their missing pay and the plant's future.

Bob Chernecki, a senior official for the Canadian Auto Workers, said management had not responded to union queries since last week, when the company halted operations and told employees to go home.

Chernecki said in an interview that the occupation led to a meeting where management indicated it would inform the union about its financial status, payment to workers and any possible chance of a reopening on Wednesday.

"These workers were blindsided by this corporation just before Christmas," he said.

"It's ridiculous. They received no warning and now face so much uncertainty."

M&I did not return calls for comment about the company's situation.

Chernecki said he expects the U.S.-based company to slip into receivership or fall under bankruptcy court protection during the next few days.

"It doesn't look good," he said.

M&I formed in 1981 and provides air-moving technology and systems for industrial and institutional buildings.

Chernecki said M&I did not provide regular biweekly paycheques on Dec.10, but managers promised they would submit them on the following Monday if employees worked during the same weekend to complete a major air-system project for a customer.

"They didn't get paid on the Monday and on the Tuesday the company called them in at 9 a.m. and told them there was no work and to go home," he added.

The union, which represents about 155 workers at the plant, is seeking wages including overtime for the employees during the past three weeks plus severance and holiday pay.
Furthermore, it wants the company to file employment insurance information with the federal government immediately.

The workers, including some staff with more than 20 years service, negotiated a new three-year contract during the fall that contained small wage increases for lower-paid staff and a $400 lump sum amount for higher-paid employees. The average wage is about $18 an hour.

The CAW and other unions have pushed for stronger legislation to protect workers who are victims of plant closures, including giving them higher standing than other creditors.

LA POLITIQUE CANADIENNE/CANADIAN POLITICS:
LES RETRAITÉS CONTRE LES TRAVAILLEURS/PENSIONERS VERSUS THE WORKERS ????
Au Québec il ya eu une tentative de la part des retraités de l'Union d'avoir les divers syndicats enregistrés comme «lobbyistes». quand il s'agit de negtiations pension. Il est douteux si un tel déplacement sera de toute bénéficier les retraités d'aujourd'hui au Québec. Il convient également de s'interroger sur les arrière-pensées derrière une telle initiative. Voici le rapport de la Gazette de Montréal.

In Québec there has been a move on the part of union pensioners to have the various unions registered as "lobbyists" when it comes to pension negotiations. It is doubtful if such a move will be of any benefit to present pensioners in Quebec. One also has to wonder about the ulterior motives behind such a move. Here is the report from the Montreal Gazette.

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Make unions subject to lobby laws: ex-workers:
By KEVIN DOUGHERTY,

The GazetteDecember 19, 2009
Quebec's lobbying commissioner is deliberating on a request by an association of retired public-sector employees that public-sector unions be required to register as lobbyists.


The Association québécoise des retraité(e)s des secteurs public et parapublic wants the unions, whose negotiations are normally exempt from the lobbying law, to register as lobbyists when the talks turn to pension changes.


Luc Vallerand, director-general of the AQRP, said his association wants to use the lobbying law to influence the unions.


"We want to be consulted," he said.


And Vallerand says it is not ethical for the government to negotiate with the common front of 475,000 teachers, hospital workers and civil servants until the unions register as lobbyists.


Under the province's tough 2002 law on lobbying, a lobbyist is anyone who communicates orally or in writing with elected officials or their staff, senior civil servants or government enterprises, such as Hydro-Québec, to influence a decision.


All lobbyists must register with the lobbying commissioner, explaining each mandate they are pursuing.


Marjolaine Perreault, spokesperson for the Secrétariat intersyndical des services publics, the largest group in the common front, representing 300,000 teachers, daycare workers, hospital workers and civil servants, had no comment on the AQRP request.


Mélanie Malenfant of the Quebec Federation of Labour said the QFL is not taking seriously the AQRP's request and considers all issues on the bargaining table, including pensions, as part of the negotiating process.


Jean-Pierre Larche of the Confédération des syndicates nationaux noted that CSN president Claudette Carbonneau is already registered as a lobbyist for issues unrelated to the bargaining table.


"There is nothing to it," Larche said of the AQRP position. "It's a negotiation. It isn't lobbying to influence a minister."
kdougherty@thegazette.canwest.com

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Et ice est une opinion anarchiste de la blog Voix de Faits./ And here is an anarchist opinion from the Voix de Faits blog.

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Du syndicalisme au lobbyisme:
D'après le Devoir, ça grogne du côté du Commissaire au lobbyiste du Québec pour que les syndicats complètent leur étiquette officielle de lobbyiste en chef. Même l'AQRP, l'Association québécoise des retraités des secteurs public et parapublic, attaque les syndicats pour qu'ils s'inscrivent officiellement lors de leur négocation! On savait que l'AQRP a quelques relations nébuleuses avec les grandes centrales syndicales. Rappelons surtout le dossier des retraites où elle plaide pour être à la table de négociation, craignant que ses membres - les retraitées- qui ne sont plus membres des centrales syndicales ne soient pas représentées. Mais là! Tant qu'à moi ça vole bas: pousser pour que les syndicats achoppent leur (dernier!) petit pouvoir de mobilisation et de contestation auprès du gouvernement!





Il est vrai que dans les faits, c'est peut-être seulement un titre de plus, voire une question d'image, puisque les grandes centrales agissent déjà comme des groupes de pression à saveur lobbyiste (d'ailleurs les chef.fes syndicaux sont pour la plupart déjà inscrites). Mais sur le long terme, cette entourloupette légaliste ne servira pas la cause des travailleurs et des travailleuses.




Surtout qu'idéologiquement, on entérine
1) que le gouvernement, en tant que patron, use de son pouvoir législatif pour baîllonner le combat syndical: d'où l'idée que les syndicats doivent inscrire leur négociation dans le registre des lobbyiste puisque la négociation du contrat de travail en lui-même ne requiert pas d'inscription au registre, seulement ce qui est encadré par la loi (les retraites par exemple).
2) que les syndicats sont un parti-pris comme un autre, au même titre qu'une entreprise privée ou qu'une branche d'industrie (le pétrole par exemple?); contrecarrant leur pouvoir de justice sociale pour tous et toutes et leur lutte pour l'amélioration des conditions de vie universelle, les faisant retomber au niveau d'une défense de droit lobbyiste du "plus pour soi, je m'en fiche des autres!".




Même s'il faut admettre que les grandes centrales syndicales négocient souvent lobbyistement, cherchant à protéger les acquis de LEURS travailleurs et travailleuses plutôt qu'à abolir le rapport capital-travail et à travailler pour l'ensemble des travailleurs et travailleuses exploitées, il n'en reste pas moins qu'ils sont un levier important pour la défense de la justice sociale. À ce point tel important que le gouvernement et le patronat ont compris depuis longtemps qu'il valait mieux encadrer leur puissance de frappe avant qu'elle ne porte le coup final.




La négociation des retraites risque d'être un sujet de plus où, sans démonstration collective de l'importance de la liberté syndicale, le dossier risque d'être clos avant même d'avoir instaurer un débat démocratique dans les instances syndicales. Toujours au profit des mêmes; toujours sur le dos de notre liberté à nous et de notre autonomie organisationnelle.
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And also in English.

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FROM UNIONISM TO LOBBYISM:
According to Le Devoir, the grumbles to the the Commissioner of Quebec Lobbyists are that the unions adopt the official label of lobbyists. Even AQRP, the Quebec Association of Retired Public and Parastate sectors, demanded that the unions to formally register their lobby business! We knew that AQRP has some nebulous relationships with the major trade unions. Recall especially the issue of pensions where it pleaded to be at the negotiating table, fearing that its members - the retired, who are no longer members of trade unions were not represented. So there! But it appears to me very much a drive for unions give up their (last?) little power to mobilize and challenge the government!




It is true that in practice it may be only a simple title , even a question of image, since larger organizations are already acting as pressure groups lobbying to their tastes (besides the union chiefs are mostly already signed on). But in the long term, these legalistic shenanigans will not serve the cause of working men and women.




Especially ideologically, it confirms
1) the government as a boss, uses its legislative powers to gag the union struggles: hence the idea that unions must register their negotiations in the register of lobbyists as bargaining since the negotiation of work conracts in itself does not require registration, only what is framed by law (eg pensions).
2) that the unions are biased like any other, just like a private company or a branch of industry (oil for example?); Counteracting their power for social justice for all and their struggle to improve living universal conditions , making them fall into a lobbyist defense of "more for itself, I do not care for others!".




Even if we admit that the main trade unions often employ lobbyists, seeking to protect the achievements of their workers rather than abolish the capital-labor relationship and work for all exploited workers , the fact remains that they are an important lever for the defense of social justice. At this point very important as the government and employers have long understood that it was better to regulate their punching power before they deliver the final blow.




The negotiation of pensions may be more a matter of where, without the collective demonstration of the importance of union indpendence, the case may be closed even before a democratic debate in the union bodies. Also always to their own benefit , always on the backs of our freedom and our organizational independence.

CANADIAN POLITICS:
OLYMPIC RESISTANCE SPREADS ACROSS CANADA:
The following is a press release from the Olympic Resistance Network dated yesterday, December 21. It is a summary of some of the protests that have met the Olympic flame in its course across the country.
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Press Release: Olympic Torch being Disrupted across Canada, Protests today at Six Nations as Olympic Torch shamed:
OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY BEING DISRUPTED ACROSS CANADA!
==> Anti-Olympic Protesters bring their message of resistance across Canada; Olympic Torch shamed.
==> Six Nations community members declare Olympic Torch will not pass through their territory.
Monday, December 21 2009, Vancouver Unceded Coast Salish Territories-Protesters are bringing their anti-Olympic message with chants of “No Olympics on Stolen Native Land”, “Get your torch off our land, we don’t want your Olympic scam” and “2010 Homes not 2010 Games” across Canada. In many instances, activists have successfully disrupted the Torch Relay, forcing delays and route cancellations, with at least four arrests associated with anti-Torch related actions.
Today, Six Nations community members have declared that the Olympic Torch will not pass through their territory. A Declaration by the Onkwehonwe (people) of the Grand River Territory states “This land is not conquered. We are not Canadian… We hereby affirm our peaceful opposition to the entry and progression of the 2010 Olympic torch into and through our territory.” (Visit: http://6nsolidarity.wordpress.com/ or No2010@peaceculture.org for media interviews). In the coming weeks, dissenters are also expected to converge in Kitchener, Calgary, Edmonton, Stratford, and Guelph.
In Toronto over 250 people took to the streets on December 17, blocking major intersections and forcing the cancellation of the Torch in parts of downtown Toronto. A banner dropped directly across the stage read “Gego Olympics Da-Te-Snoon Nishnaabe-Giing Ga-Gmooding” (“No Olympics on Stolen Native Land” in Anishinaabemowin). (Visit http://torontotorch.blogspot.com/or email torchblock@gmail.com ).
At least four communities in the province of Quebec have opposed the Torch Relay: Sept-Iles, Montreal, Kanahwake First Nations, and Quebec City. In Montreal, over 200 people converged and delayed the relay as well as the main ceremonies and concert. (Visit: http://www.amp-montreal.net/).
On October 30, over 400 people gathered to oppose the Torch Relay launch in Victoria. An Anti-Olympics Festival and Zombie March succeeded in disrupting the relay. Security personnel were forced to extinguish the torch, load it in a van, and reroute it. (Visit http://no2010victoria.net/or no2010victoria@gmail.com ).
Actions have also occurred in cities as diverse as Comox Valley, Kingston, Halifax, Ottawa, and St. John's. With the number of protesters equaling or exceeding spectators, dissatisfaction with the 2010 Winter Olympics is growing across Canada. According to a November 2009 Angus-Reid poll, over 30% of B.C. residents feel the Olympics will have a negative impact and almost 40% of residents support protesters. (sorry, but ????-Molly )
Protesters note that the Olympics are not simply about the athletes; rather the corporate Games are leaving a legacy of displacement, militarization, and repression. Public funds invested by all levels of government are nearing $7 billion. According to the Olympic Resistance Network, “While Olympic corporate sponsors are getting bailed out, Indigenous lands are being stolen, people are becoming homeless, thousands are losing their jobs and access to public services, the environment is being destroyed, and civil liberties are being eroded with almost a billion dollars sunk into surveillance. The negative Olympic legacy is turning into an anti-Olympic legacy of resistance across the country.” Social justice activists also believe that the Olympic Torch is a $25 million propaganda tool for corporate sponsors who have some of the worst social and environmental practices. The Royal Bank of Canada has been under fire for its financing of the environmentally devastating Alberta Tar Sands, while Coca Cola has been responsible for massive depletion of groundwater and toxic waste pollution in India.
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Here, according to the Hamilton Spectator, is what happened on the Six Nations Reserve yesterday.
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Six Nations protesters detour the Olympic flame:
Barry Gray, the Hamilton Spectator

Change of venue a 'small victory'
December 22, 2009 Danielle Wong
The Hamilton Spectator(Dec 22, 2009)
A last-minute detour in the Olympic flame's passage through Six Nations yesterday appeased protesters, but left participants with mixed feelings.

The initial plan to have the 25 torchbearers run through the heart of the reserve had upset some Six Nations people.

They argued the torch represented Ottawa's mistreatment of natives and the environmental destruction caused by Olympic preparations near Vancouver.

Torchbearers and spectators learned yesterday morning the relay would instead be held at the Six Nations bingo hall at Highway 54 and Chiefswood Road, on the reserve's outskirts.

Protesters had positioned themselves to block the torch from coming on to Six Nations land on Highway 54, but backed off when they saw the Olympic caravan take a different route to the hall.

"All the demands were met in not bringing the caravan through (Six Nations) and that's why there was no big demonstration," said protester Skye Williams, 26.

Torchbearer Robert Henry said he would have liked to have carried the torch through Ohsweken, but the event was still positive.

"It's unfortunate we can't go that way, but I think this will still ... be part of history," said the 36-year-old.

The relay began shortly after 5 p.m. outside the bingo hall. More than 200 people gathered outside to watch smoke dances and the First Nations youth choir before cheering on the torchbearers.

Torchbearer Jason Johnson said last night's event was an opportunity to encourage young people and he was shocked when he got the call that he would be running.

"Big events like these don't often make their way this far," he said.

There was a different atmosphere earlier when a small group of protesters showed up at the Six Nations Community Centre on Fourth Line after a press conference.

They held signs saying "No Olympics on stolen native land" and "No torch means no trespassing."

There was no consensus among the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to bring the Olympic torch to their land, said the demonstration's spokesperson Melissa Elliott, 19.

The change in venue was a "small victory" for those protesting the Olympics, she said.

But Lana Isaacs, who came out to support the torchbearers, said she would have liked to see the torch go through the reserve.

"We have elders at the Iroquoia lodge who could see (the relay) out the window," she said, adding there were others who could not get to the bingo hall.

"They're missing it and it is sad. And it is too bad."

Band council chief Bill Montour said they switched routes because the bingo hall was more "central" and the initial plan was "becoming a logistic nightmare."

"This event is not a political event.

"It's for this community."